benefits of job clubs for executive job seekers: a tale of hares and tortoises |
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| Authors: | Christopher T. Kondo |
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| Affiliation: | Christopher T. Kondo, Department of Marketing, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, California State University, Fullerton, and Women's Opportunities Center, Irvine, California. “Walsh and Brown” (also referred to as “W & B”) is a pseudonym for an actual global outplacement firm that supported my research. Specifically, the career counselors at the Irvine, California, office shared their time and expertise, allowed me to observe their job search team meetings, referred me to potential participants, and allowed me to conduct my individual interviews at their offices. A member of the corporate staff was also generous in sharing his observations and experience. For reasons of confidentiality, I am using the fictitious pseudonym when referring to this outplacement firm. |
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| Abstract: | This qualitative research study compares the experiences of 2 groups of executive job seekers—job club members and nonmembers—through thematic analysis of open‐ended interviews. The findings indicated that job club members benefited from group learning, increased accountability, networking opportunities, emotional support, helping other members, and enhanced understanding of the context of their experiences. Job club members also enjoyed lower levels of frustration with the search process, used a wider range of outplacement firm services, and devoted more time on average to job search activities. Suggestions for practical implementation and application of results are discussed. |
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